Week 2 Blog and Pictures

Hey everyone,

There are three blog posts with pictures and then there is a long blog about all that we have been up to in the past week. The pictures are first and then the update. Just wanted to make sure you didn't miss all the info. It was a little tricky adding the pics and stuff.

Week 2 Pictures!

Giving seed to the orphans of the Mt. Darwin area! Maize seed.

All the maize seed and fertilizer.
The garden at the orphanage that I talked about in the blog post. They now sell vegetables in the village!
Showing the Jesus film after a seed distribution.

More week 1 pictures

The conference out in the bush.
An overseer pastor and his wife. She was a life saver, prepared our food with clean water (we think), and always made sure we were okay. Rotendo (means faith) is her name.
Ahhh, back at the house we are staying at in Harare. This is our room.

Me, tearing it up on the soccer field, check out how I'm totally beating this girl out!
Seed distribution! (talked about in the most recent blog post)

Pics from week 1

Our first night!
Our first breakfast! Cow liver and spaghetti, yum!
Yep, then they started bringing the cow in house. As we were "eating" the cow liver.
This is what we affectionately refer to as the "bush"
And this is the hot box I talked about in last weeks post.

Here come the runs . . . .do do do do. :-)

It’s been almost two weeks now since we have left and our second week in Zimbabwe has been just as eventful as the first (although maybe not as traumatizing) And amidst the events of this week, yep, we both got the African cold – the runs (clever title huh….you know like that song….here comes the sun….do do do do). Anyway, here’s the rundown of the last week’s events (no pun intended, I’m just on a roll right now). Last Tuesday and Wednesday were really fun. On Tuesday, we visited a support group for women with HIV and I (Krista) got to do some encouraging there (talking about where we find our identity and worth). We went back this morning to the same group and lots more people came this week which was super cool. That afternoon, we also got another cell phone and air time for both of our phones, so now we can call people here and even call back home! That night we had dinner with Lucia and her four youngest children who live at the house. It was like family dinner. We even ate a traditional African meal (no, not cow liver…thank goodness), sadza (a white, cornmeal concoction that is thick and THE staple food of Zimbabwe, greens, and chicken. We even tried eating some of it with our hands like they do, but aren’t quite there yet. I mean, at least give me a napkin if I’m going to eat with my hands. The whole no napkin thing is still a bit strange (they go the whole meal and eat with their hands and then wash them afterwards with water and a towel). I have to admit, I used my clothes occasionally during that meal.
Then later on that night, Justin got….. the runs and was up a good portion of the night with that loveliness as well as a cough. I slept great, minus Justin’s occasional coughing fit that would wake me a bit :-) (this came back later to haunt me). So on Wednesday, we went out to another area of Harare, Highfields, to a church there where the women gather every Wednesday afternoon to play some soccer and hang out with one another (so cool!). And of course, soccer here is just a big dirt field and some posts on either side. I got to play some soccer (not very well, but that didn’t really matter here, I fit right in) and Justin was the ref…he called a handball on me once which was so not cool, but I think the other ladies then knew that I wasn’t going to get any special treatment. He felt a little better by this time and was a good sport running up and down the field. After the soccer match (my team lost…boo), Justin and I had some time to speak to all the ladies and encouraged them to continue to meet together and be in community (and to continue playing soccer too). After that the pastor of that area took us to his little home and we had coca cola with him and his wife and kids. They also gave us some popo (a type of fruit kinda like a mango…it was okay). It was really cool to see his little house and hear his plans for future investments in real estate….quiet the entrepreneur/pastor.
Then that evening, after dinner, I started to feel a little weird…..and then that night…. I got the runs. Although, I beat Justin because I also got a 100+ fever. It was not fun and I was pretty sick that night… at one point, I even used a lot of my air time to call my mom (Justin had taken a Tylenol PM and wasn’t very supportive at 1:00AM ;-)), but who else do you want to talk to when you’re feeling really sick? My mom told me exactly what to do, even from across the world.
The next day we were supposed to head back into the “bush” for 5 days, but since I wasn’t feeling well (still had a fever and the runs and slept pretty much the whole day), we decided to postpone the trip. Later we found out that the car we were going to use broke down and they learned all kinds of problems it had, so probably a good thing we didn’t take it 10+ hours away (I can’t say I wasn’t too disappointed we weren’t going back to the hotter than Hades bush, although I would rather have not been sick).
I started feeling better the next day (Friday), so we joined up with a team of missionaries from Iris Ministries that was in town for a few days to distribute seed to orphans and widows in the rural areas around Harare. They are staying at the same house that we are staying at and working with Tatenda and Lucia to find the poorest of the poor to give to. So, we spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a super nice Englishman and a couple of pastors and caregivers here going to rural areas where there are lots of orphans that are in the orphan program started by Tatenda and Lucia (same one that I have done some counseling work with). We even camped out on Saturday night at one of the orphanages 3 hours away (the Englishman had a super cool pop-up tent….so this time, not too hot). At this particular orphanage (Mt. Darwin), the kids have used seed that they received last season to plant a large garden. They are not only becoming self-sufficient and growing their own food, but they are also now the ones selling their vegetables to people in the village (people come to them for help!). We are told that this has totally changed their confidence level and has empowered them to succeed in other areas of their lives too. So, at each place, we distributed lots of maize seed and fertilizer, and then at night we would show the Jesus film. Several people made decisions to follow Jesus for the first time and many were physically healed (it was awesome and something pretty new to both of us!). Spending the three days with this team was really cool.
Yesterday, we rested a lot in the morning, typing a lot of this up so as not to spend an eternity at the internet café, oh and we bought a toilet. I know random huh? One of the guest toilets here at their house is cracked and leaking onto the floor of the bathroom (not the most hygienic of scenarios, especially since they have so many visitors from all over the country in this place), and so we went out with one the team members from Iris who had the idea and bought a new cistern for the toilet. It was pretty nuts…we went to this huge market (like miles long) in the city where they sell everything and bargained our way down to a $40 toilet! After the toilet was in hand, we went to the grocery store for a few items (still weird to see a cash register full of U.S. dollars). We got some staples to have just in case we have the runs again….bread, crackers, tuna fish and Mac and cheese!! Oh and I’m eating a Cadbury chocolate bar right now (totally easy to find here)!!
Talk about a change in attitude from last week huh? A lot can happen in a week in Africa. You can go from hating life and wanting to totally leave, to thinking eh, it’s okay, to getting really sick and wanting to totally leave again, to loving every minute of it, to being really glad you are here, but hesitant about what the next 9 weeks still hold (which is where I think we are right now). We are excited for Tatenda to return to here tomorrow (he’s been in South Africa since we’ve been here), to see what our schedule and some projects will look like for the next couple of months. And as we settle in more, meet more people, and learn more Shona, it’s a lot more fun. This weekend we are actually going to get to go to an African wedding!
We’ll try to get on again next week with another update and some pics.

Welcome to Africa!!

So it’s been one week since we left Denver and started our journey to Zimbabwe. We arrived last Thursday and everything with our 3 flights went well. All of our bags made it and getting through immigration was great. A few of the highlights, however, we felt a little sick in London (Justin is still getting over whatever he had when we left….it’s on to the sore throat, runny nose, cough stage), a few times of tears for me (Krista), and one really big time of tears in the Johannesburg airport when I realized I had left my Iphone on the plane and they couldn’t find it. At this point, we were running on maybe 7 hours of “flying” sleep in two days, and that, added to the thought of being gone for a year, which I was constantly thinking about at this point made for a very interesting episode in the terminal. Luckily no more British Airways reps were around for my emotional breakdown, although maybe if they were, they would have given their phone to me. Justin did a great job of trying to calm me down and we eventually made it to Harare in one piece.

We arrived around 1:00pm on Thursday, were picked up by one of Tatenda’s pastors and went to the house that we would call home for a few months. We showered, rested for a little bit, ate dinner, and then were told that we were leaving to go to a funeral in the bush on the way to a two day conference further into the bush. So, not knowing really what to expect, we packed up our sleeping bags and mosquito nets and headed out to the bush in the minibus with 12 other people (we learned later, the band). A truck with a bunch of sound equipment and food and people came along too. We arrived in the “bush” around midnight (one small brick house, and one traditional African hut in the middle of lots of dry, arid vegetation), thinking that we would just go to sleep, but we quickly learned that a funeral in Africa is very different from one in the States. They set up the sound equipment and some lights, all connected to a portable generator, and began singing and dancing, and more singing and dancing, and some preaching, and more singing and dancing, until SUNRISE!! We were shown a place to rest at 4:00am in a small brick house, but didn’t get much sleep as the band was right outside and then the sun started coming up making the room super hot. Oh I was not loving life at this point :-). After two days of traveling, this isn’t what I would prefer, especially knowing that the next day we were off to go further into the bush for two days. What the heck are we doing again?

So, we maybe got an hour of rest, woke up, and were served spaghetti noodles and cow liver for breakfast. Oh yes, from a cow that was slaughtered that morning, which we later saw the rest of as they rolled him up to the small brick house and brought him in piece by piece. Awesome! That afternoon, 14 of us piled in the minibus, with a trailer attached to the back full of sound equipment. Justin and I, the band, and another preacher were off to Chimbuwe, a village 9 hours away from Harare really close to the Mozambique border and at only 1000 feet elevation, which means very very hot (in the Zambezi valley)!! We had no idea the drive would be that long and also didn’t know that most of the drive would be on a very bumpy dirt road (which is a main road for them)! I almost had another breakdown, because I was still exhausted and thought the trip would maybe take an hour. When we arrived in Chimbuwe around 9:30pm, we were shown our small concrete room for sleeping which was probably the hottest place I have ever slept. That night, however, I was so tired that it didn’t matter. Sleeping in pools of sweat was no problem that night :-).

For our first day of the conference, Justin preached three times and I spoke for about 15 minutes before one of his talks. He spoke on Hebrews 11 and walked through what it means to have faith, how we serve a good God, and abiding in Christ using the vine and the branches passage out of John. It was outside and there were probably a few hundred people there – some who had walked 3 days to get there!! There was lots of praise and worship and preaching from a couple other pastors too…..and did I mention that it was hot….and it didn’t cool down at night. I can’t be sure, but I might have been suffering from a little heat stroke. We even ran out of bottled water, but luckily had our bottles from the States that have a built in filter. That night was another really hot one with little sleep. The next day, Sunday, we had the conference in the morning with lots of praise and worship and dancing and some preaching. We left Chimbuwe around 11:30am, and this time for the ride back, we had a few other passengers – 19 people to be exact! This time, the drive was better, because we knew a little more about what to expect…flat tire and all (oh yeah, we got one and all the men, including Justin changed it without a jack….who needs a jack when you have 10 strong men).

We made it back to Harare around 9:00pm and you could feel it getting cooler with every mile closer. Ahhhh, back to a cool house and an actual shower and bed…..we were pretty dirty and dusty from 3 days out in the bush. We cleaned up and went straight to bed…yes a good night’s sleep after 5 nights without one! Welcome to Africa!

Yesterday, we rested and unpacked and hung out at the house all day. This week we have a fairly busy schedule again. Tuesday and Wednesday we will visit 3 churches and speak at 3 support groups for women and men there (lots that are HIV+). I have prepared some stuff to talk about our identity in Christ and how we need to find it in Him, and how there are several places in Scripture that point to how we are loved and valued. Then on Thursday, we are going back out into the bush with one pastor. The three of us will be there until Sunday doing some open-air preaching and encouraging people in the village one on one. Again, no idea how long the drive will be and what our sleeping arrangements will be like, and I’m sure it will be hot. Pray I don’t have another breakdown :-)! We learned today that the village is probably 600km away, and that is probably not going 60km/hr.

So, that was our first week here in Zimbabwe. Are we really here for 10 more weeks? We’re already learning a lot about ourselves and God is breaking us in ways that I would really prefer He didn’t, but it is growing our faith and my dependence on Him.

We’ll try to update you in another week. We won’t be back to the internet until we get back on Sunday night.Thanks for your prayers. We'll try to add pictures next time. Learning the internet system here :-).

Denver Video...

We got the video to work! So, we are in Jo-berg, South Africa now, 8:25 am our time. I think we were in London... it was kind of a blur. :-) Didn't feel great and it was early our time, and this time Starbucks didn't help. We found some tolerable chairs and slept for a few hours. Next stop Harare... it may be a while until the next post. We'll get something out when we can.

"He is before all things... and in Him all things hold together." Col 1:11

Justin and Krista

From Jo-Berg

Out

Leavin' on a jet plane . . . .

Well, we are all packed up and the house is empty, awaiting our renters who will arrive tomorrow. Today was a full day of last minute packing and cleaning, eating some good ol' Chick-fil-a with Krista's family and getting one last hot shower in for a few months. We just got dropped off at the airport by Krista's parents (Krista got a little teary eyed, but is doing a little better now :-)) and are now at our gate for our flight to London which leaves at 8:15pm. All of our bags made the weight limit!! We'll get to London around noon tomorrow (their time) and will have 7 hours to hang out in the London airport.

Justin is feeling a little bit better but still has the sniffles and Krista is starting to feel a little sick, so please pray that she doesn't get worse. At least we don't have a ton to do in the next two days, just lots of sitting on planes and in airports, so we can rest lots. And the miniature pharmacy is close at hand :-).

Thanks everyone who helped us pack our house up, clean the whole house and prayed for us throughout the last few weeks. We could not have done it without you guys!

So we tried to upload a video of us on the train in the airport, but can't figure it out right now and we're about to board. So we'll try again in London. Love you all!!

Five Minute Update...

In an attempt to update you all on the latest in 5 minutes or less... here is our first "Five Minute Update..." (don't worry, there will be longer, more personal updates as well... mostly from Krista :-))... enjoy.


-We have our Kenya Visa, Russia was a little harder, we had to get a second passport and we'll have to wait until we get closer to our entry date into "mother" Russia to start those Visas.
-The house is packed up and in the basement! Thanks fam for all your help!
-We have made our final trip to REI for gear. (PTL - Praise the Lord! As much as I love REI, and as hard as it'll be to leave all of our REI friends behind... I'm glad we don't have anything more to buy!)
- The roof can probably last another year. Thanks Matt!
- We have cash now! We have loaded up with some small bills for our first leg in Zim, where it's not easy to get money. It was kind of a task to get a relatively large sum of small bills, I think we had a whole row of tellers interested in our request.
- We had a great night with friends chatting and praying about our trip. Thanks guys!

We still have some work to do on our bags! It's hard to figure out how many gallons of shampoo to bring. :-)
We're cleaning on Sunday if anyone wants to stop by!

Later Friends!

Justin and Krista
From Broomfield
Out

(Bonus points, for who ever knows what movie I'm taking this from.)